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CHAPTER TEN
my choice
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( history repeating, pt. i )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Wednesday, November 2, 2009

Harper's POV.

*Mystic Falls High School, 6th Period History Class*

By the time the school day reaches sixth period, I'm usually exhausted. Today is no different. I'm not gonna lie though. Having a substitute teacher in history class these last few weeks has been pretty great. Since the sub is just a stand-in without any actual degrees in history, we've pretty much just been given worksheet handouts everyday with simple assessment tests on Fridays. Honestly, I'm not learning much. But hey, at least the homework load is easy, and as an overachiever, I can't ask for anything better. I already have enough homework as it is.

An unfamiliar man walks into the classroom, making my stomach drop in worry. He's not our usual sub, which means, he could be our new history teacher. Well, I guess it was fun while it lasted.

The new history teacher is noticeably tall with short, brown hair that appears gelled at the top. I dare say it, but he's kind of handsome. Definitely an improvement over Mr. Tanner.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he greets. Standing in front of the chalkboard, he rubs his hands together. "Alrighty," he says when no one says "good afternoon" back.

I hold in a laugh. It's sixth period. None of us have any energy anymore. I wonder if this is his first teaching gig, or maybe he's just a really chipper guy and is expecting too much from us.

With a piece of chalk, he writes his name on the chalkboard.

A-L-A-R-I-C    S-A-L-T-Z-M-A-N

How do you pronounce that? I wonder.

He puts the piece of chalk down then points to his name. "ə · lär · ik   Saalt · smuhn," he sounds out with a grin on his face. He clasps his hands together. "It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas." He starts to pace back in forth in front of the class. "I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now, the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably wanna pronounce it 'A · lr · ik,' but it's 'ə · lär · ik,' okay?" Mr. Saltzman points to us. "So you, can call me Ric. I'm your new history teacher." He finishes off with a smile.

Definitely an improvement over Mr. Tanner.

Mr. Saltzman goes over to his new desk and picks up a clipboard. "Which one of you is Ms. Lacy?" he questions, causing me to internally panic. Whenever a teacher calls on me in class, I tend to overreact. But he's our new history teacher. He doesn't even know me. What could he possibly need from me?

I sheepishly raise my hand. "Me," I say in a small voice among the painfully quiet classroom. Why do I feel like I'm on trial for something?

"I need to speak with you after class," he says.

My face falls immediately.

"Don't worry." Mr. Saltzman chuckles. "You're not in trouble. I just need some help with something."

Starting to relax a bit, I nod my head. "Okay."

So, after class, I stay behind to talk with Mr. Saltzman. As I stand before his desk, he picks up a folder and starts to leaf through its contents. "I didn't want to say this out loud during class," he begins, "but the reason I asked you to come help me is because your name is in this folder. Your old teacher called it his 'hall of fame' file." Mr. Saltzman grins. "He also had a jackass file, but anyway . . ." He puts the folder down and looks up at me. He folds his hands together on the desk. "I need some help getting adjusted here. It would be a great help to me if I could have a special student aid to help me out. Would you be up to the job? If not, I completely understand. You guys are juniors. You already have a lot on your plates as it is."

"Oh, yeah, sure," I answer him immediately. Even if I didn't want to take the job, I probably would have said "yes" anyway. I just can't seem to deny a teacher whenever they ask for something.

"Great." He smiles. "It'll just be simple stuff like grading papers, organizing things, stuff like that. Nothing too hard. And, of course, anything extra you do for me I'll take into consideration for extra credit."

Okay, maybe I am a little interested now. I'm a sucker for anything extra credit. "That sounds great," I say with a smile.

"Alrighty," Mr. Saltzman says. "That's all I need for now."

"Thank you," I tell him, about to head for the door.

"You have a good day, Ms. Lacy. I'm expecting great things from you—oh wait, could you please throw this away for me?"

I turn back around, and Mr. Saltzman hands me Mr. Tanner's old "hall of fame" file.

He crosses his arms over his chest. "I don't do favorites," he explains. "Your old teacher was quite the character, wasn't he?"

I nod my head as I throw the folder away in the trashcan by the door. "Yeah, he was," I agree.

*Later That Night at Elena's House*

Sleepover at Elena's house. I should have seen this coming. Well, I'm not actually sleeping over, only Bonnie and Caroline are. It's a school night, so I've convinced my mother to come pick me up before I have to go to bed. If tonight wasn't a school night, my mother probably would have forced me to stay the night, using the excuse that I'm "missing out" on making memories or whatever. She's probably right. But I see my friends at school almost everyday. I already have enough memories with them to last a lifetime.

Right now, Elena is out talking to Stefan on the front porch while Bonnie, Caroline, and I preparing things for the sleepover. Well, Bonnie and Caroline are mostly doing everything. I have already finished. I'm currently sitting on the sofa in the living room by the front door, waiting anxiously for Elena to finish talking with Stefan. My cousin told me that once she was finished talking to Stefan, I could go out and give him the belated birthday gift I got for him.

I hear the front door open, and Elena walks in. She spots me on the couch. "He's all yours," she says.

I stand to my feet and pick up a small gift bag that has Stefan's gift inside. After Elena goes into the kitchen, I head for the front door, open it, and step outside on the front porch. I quickly close the door behind me, so no one can watch us from inside the house. I can't stand having an audience when I'm already with someone who makes me flustered enough as it is.

"Hi," I tell Stefan with a smile, trying to keep my cool and ignore the pit in my stomach that's telling me it was a bad idea to get Stefan a birthday gift.

"Hey." He smiles. His eyes travel to the gift bag in my hand. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"No, I wanted to." I hold the gift bag out to him. "Here. Happy birthday." I know I'm rushing this, but the longer I'm out here alone with him, the more nervous I'm gonna get.

Stefan takes the gift bag from me. I wonder if he's just gonna take it and leave, but instead, he immediately starts to pull out the colored tissue paper. When he takes out the actual gift — a small box — my heart begins to pound a little faster. I hope he likes what's inside.

So he can use both hands to open the box, I offer to take back the empty gift bag and excess colored tissue paper. He hands it over to me.

"I hope you like it," I say eagerly as Stefan finally opens the box, which reveals a football themed paracord bracelet with the Mystic Falls' Timberwolves mascot on it as well as Stefan's name. The bracelet is custom-made, of course.

Stefan's eyes meet mine. "Wow, thank you," he says, putting the lid back on the box with a cute smile on his face.

"You're welcome." I grin. Stefan's perfect smile is making me feel all bubbly inside. Keep it together, Harper. Keep it together!

Without warning, Stefan takes a step forward and wraps his arms around me. It's a quick hug that only lasts for a moment, but the slight squeeze that he gives me makes me feel more butterflies in my stomach than I have ever felt before in my life. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be cherished by the handsome Stefan Salvatore.

*Time Skip*

"I'm sorry," Caroline says, turning to Bonnie who's to the side of the Gilbert's kitchen island. "There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."

As of now, Caroline and Bonnie have still been at odds about the whole Damon's necklace situation. It looks like Elena has finally convinced one of them to apologize. It's about time for goodness sakes.

A guilty look takes over Bonnie's face. She seems to be having trouble forming words. "Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?" she hesitates. 

"You threw it away?" Caroline snaps.

"I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares," Bonnie tries to explain. "I had to get rid of it."

Caroline tilts her head to the side in irritation. "You could have just given it back to me."

"Why?" Elena interrupts. "So you could give it back to Damon?"

Caroline sighs in defeat. "Screw Damon. Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"

Bonnie motions with her head to the dining table. "Mine's in my bag," she explains.

Caroline walks over to the dining table and begins searching through Bonnie's bag for her manicure kit. "So, Elena," Caroline starts, "how long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it . . . like a permanent thing?"

"I don't know, Caroline," Elena answers in an annoyed tone. Clearly, she doesn't feel like talking about it right now.

Elena finishes chewing a Cacio e Pepe puff and offers a bag of them out to me. I take one and pop it into my mouth.

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" Caroline suddenly accuses in an angry voice.

"What?" Bonnie snaps in confusion.

"Caroline," Elena scolds.

We all look over at our blond friend. She has Damon's necklace in her hand, the one Bonnie said she had thrown away. Which means . . . Bonnie lied. She lied about throwing it away.

I should be mad, but I'm really not. I'm more disappointed in Bonnie if anything. The second-hand embarrassment seeping its way into the room is making the kitchen feel extra tight. I would do anything to leave for a while and come back when things have simmered down, but I can't get myself to do it. This whole situation now feels like a friends' issue and that requires my presence unfortunately.

Caroline marches back over to us and tosses the necklace onto the kitchen island. Her blue-green eyes glare at Bonnie expectantly. She wants an explanation.

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear," Bonnie insists earnestly.

"It's true," Elena joins in, her hands on her hips. "I watched her throw it into a field."

"How is that possible?" I speak up, deciding to finally voice my opinion. I never planned on taking sides, but based on observation, Caroline seems to be in the right. I don't know what's up with Bonnie and Elena, but the necklace is here—right in front of us. It never got thrown away as Bonnie and Elena claim.

I'm honestly so confused.

"Yeah, explain it," Caroline demands.

Bonnie looks over at Elena. "Emily," she says.

"Who's Emily?" Caroline and I ask at the same time.

"The ghost," Bonnie explains.

My brow wrinkles. "What ghost?" I still have no idea what Bonnie is talking about.

Caroline bobbles her head mockingly. "Oh, the ghost has a name now?"

"Uh." Elena raises her hand at me and Caroline for us to be quiet. "Guys, please."

Bonnie looks towards Elena. "I wonder why she won't leave me alone," she says to her.

Based on the seriousness in Bonnie's voice, I can tell that she and Elena have discussed this "Emily" ghost business before. They're both in on something that Caroline and I know nothing about.

"Okay, what is going on?" Caroline raises her voice. "Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time." She turns her head to look at me. "Did you know about this?" she asks.

"No," I answer quickly before Caroline can get mad at me too. Truth be told, I'm just as much in the dark as she is right now. I'm honestly not that surprised though based on how news usually travels through our friend group. I'm used to being one of the last to find out things. I don't really mind though as long they don't keep any serious secrets from me for too long.

Bonnie shakes her head at Caroline. "I can't talk to you. You don't listen."

"That's not true," Caroline retorts.

Raising her chin, Bonnie grows serious. "I'm a witch," she says.

Oh, not this again.

"And don't we all know it?" Caroline agrees mockingly.

"See? That's what I'm talking about," Bonnie says angrily. "I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it." With a shake of her head in frustration, Bonnie rushes out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Caroline's mouth hangs open in utter shock. "I listen," she insists. "When do I not listen?"

*Time Skip*

I used to have a friend in middle school who said she was able to "see" snakes over peoples' heads when something bad was about to happen or when people were thinking bad things. I never truly believed her, but I went along with it anyway. That's how I plan to take this whole "Bonnie being a witch and haunted by her ancestor Emily" situation.

I think Elena is doing this too because she seems very serious about all this. But there's no way my cousin could actually believe all these things, right? She's too smart for that I would think.

After listening in on Caroline's conversation to make things better between her and Bonnie, Elena and I head into the living room to join them. Maybe things will finally go back to normal now.

Elena seats herself on the armrest of the couch while I plop down next to Caroline.

"Well," Caroline says, "there is just way too much drama in this room." She looks between the four of us. "So, what do you guys wanna do?" Suddenly, Caroline gasps. "I have an idea. Why don't we have a séance?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Bonnie says as Caroline rises to her feet and walks behind the couch.

"Yeah, I don't think my parents are gonna like that," I agree, putting my arm over the back of the couch and looking back at Caroline over my shoulder.

"Come on," Caroline begs. "Let's summon some spirits." She puts her hands on her hips. "This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."

I purse my lips together as Bonnie and I exchange a "well, we tried" look.

And before we know it, we're in Elena's room sitting crisscross on the floor in a circle. The lights are off, and five lit candles are set up in the middle of our circle. If my mother knew I was about to take part in a séance, she would be so mad. To be honest, I'm not very happy about it either. I don't believe that it's possible to talk to the spirits of dead people, but I do believe in demons, and to me, a séance is just an indirect way to link to them. I'm not sure if this is actually possible since the Bible doesn't really say anything about it, but you can never be too careful.

"What are we doing?" Bonnie questions, breaking the silence in the room.

"I don't know," Elena says.

"Shh," Caroline shushes. "Be quiet and concentrate." She looks between us to make sure we're all ready. "Close your eyes," she orders.

We all do as she says. A grin slips onto my lips since no one can see me. I feel so silly doing this.

"Okay," I hear Caroline say. "Now take a deep breath."

Sharp inhales sound around our circle as we all obey her. The room soon grows quiet again.

"Bonnie, call to her," Caroline directs.

"Emily, you there?" says Bonnie casually.

A small laugh escapes my mouth. It looks like I'm not the only one not taking this seriously.

"Really?" Caroline mocks. "Emily, you there? That's all you got? Come on," she urges.

"Fine, geez," I hear Bonnie complain. A moment of silence follows before she begins to speak again. "Emily, I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."

Silence. Nothing but silence. I want to laugh so bad. We're embarrassing ourselves with this séance.

Without warning, I hear a crackling sound, and my eyes shoot open. I look around at everyone else to see that they also have their eyes open.

We all heard the candles flare stronger for that one moment.

"Did that just . . . ?" Elena starts.

Caroline cuts her off. "Yeah, it just happened."

I look at Bonnie to see what her response was. Her eyes are focused on the candles in worry.

Suddenly, a small gust of wind messes with the strands in my air, making the room cooler. Caroline shivers in response.

"It's just the air conditioning," Bonnie insists.

As if to prove her wrong, the candles flare brighter once again.

I wasn't expecting that and instantly flinch. Narrowing my eyes, I keep my gaze on the candles. What is going on? That shouldn't have been possible . . .

Caroline looks towards Bonnie. "Ask her to show you a sign," she suggests.

Bonnie shakes her head.

"Ask her," Caroline repeats insistently.

Bonnie keeps her mouth shut, and I can't blame her. Something weird is going on here. It feels . . . wrong.

I knew this séance was a bad idea.

Since Bonnie won't do it, Caroline takes it upon herself. "Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign," she says.

We wait a moment, but nothing happens.

Bonnie shakes her head. "See? It's not working," she affirms.

It was too good to be true, and to think, for a second there, I was actually starting to believe—

The windows burst open, and my heart gets caught in my chest. The top half of my body shivers violently for a second. Everyone else scrambles back on the floor away from the candles.

Terrified, Bonnie shoots to her feet. "No! I can't! I'm done!" she yells before ripping Damon's necklace off her neck and throwing it on the floor next to the candles.

The candles instantly go out, consuming Elena's bedroom in darkness.

"Get the light! Please, get the light!" Bonnie begs desperately.

Despite being pretty darn scared, my instincts kick in, and I get to my feet. With caution, I start to slowly make my way towards the light switch. Having been in Elena's room so many times in my childhood, my mind is able to infer where everything is, even in the dark.

But before I can reach the light switch, Elena beats me to it. She turns the light on herself.

"You guys," says Bonnie's voice behind us.

I turn around to face her.

"The necklace. It's gone."

The last place I saw the necklace was on the floor next to the candles. I glance down there, and sure enough, Bonnie was right. It is gone.

But where did it go? It was right there. I saw Bonnie toss it to the floor with my own eyes. Someone had to have taken it . . . but Caroline wouldn't have done such a thing, would she? Then again, she still wanted it back pretty badly earlier. There's no saying that she has completely given up on getting it back from Bonnie.

Elena walks into the middle of the room and looks around for the necklace on the floor. Bonnie does the same, checking under Elena's bed. I glance around for it myself.

A few seconds pass before Elena quits her search and sighs. "Okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back."

So Elena was thinking the same as I was. Caroline has to have it, right? There's no other explanation for where it could have gone.

The said blond crosses her arms. "What? Well, I didn't take it," she denies.

Elena scoffs at Caroline in frustration. I think we're all pretty much done with this stupid necklace business at this point.

Out of no where, a human-like shadow makes its way past Elena's bedroom door in the hallway.

My heart skips a beat, and I gasp.

"Did you see that too?" Elena asks, looking at me.

I nod. "Yeah."

Holy shit, what is going on here? Something bad is happening. I can feel it. First the necklace goes missing, and now Elena and I think we just saw a person in the hallway. This all feels so wrong, like we just ticked off some sort of evil being or something. My brain can't comprehend it all. I'm . . . I'm freaking out.

"What?" Caroline questions me and Elena, scrutinizing between the two of us. She turns her head back to follow our gaze out the bedroom door. "What happened?" she wants to know.

"I don't know. Nothing," Elena quickly dismisses.

But we both know it wasn't nothing.

My cousin takes a moment to peak out the open bedroom door. "Jeremy, are you home?" she asks into the hallway.

"Is he there?" I ask Elena.

"I don't see him . . ." she trails off.

"Um, guys," Bonnie interrupts. I go over to see what she's up to. I watch as she goes into the upstairs bathroom. Elena and Caroline come stand beside me to watch her as well.

Bonnie picks up something off the bathroom floor and holds it up to reveal that it's the missing necklace. A second later, the door slams shut.

Bonnie screams, and I'm left panicking. Elena and Caroline scramble to the door to try and get it open.

"You guys!" Bonnie yells. "Open the door!"

Elena and Caroline begin pounding on the door. "Bonnie! Bonnie!" they cry.

I shutter with fear. Crossing my arms over my chest, I start to back away from them. "What is happening?!" I cry out. 

"Help me!" Bonnie sobs.

Caroline stops pounding on the door. "What's going on?!" she demands, but Bonnie just continues to wail in terror.

"Bonnie!" Elena and Caroline yell out again.

Nothing seems to be working, so Elena's stops her assault on the door. "We'll try the other door!" she shouts. She glances between me and Caroline. "I'll check the hallway," she announces before taking off into the hall.

"Oh my God!" Bonnie screams.

Instead of pounding on the door, Caroline tries to forcibly twist the doorknob open. "Bonnie! Open the door!" she demands.

All of a sudden, the lights in the house start flickering off and on followed by Bonnie screaming at the top of her lungs. I back away into the corner by the window, squeezing my eyes shut and covering my ears. This is a nightmare! This has to be a nightmare! my mind yells.

Then it all just . . . stops—Bonnie's screams, the flickering lights . . . everything.

I tentatively look up to see that Elena has come back into the room. The bathroom door is now open, revealing a frightened Bonnie with her head in her hands.

I don't dare come any closer to Bonnie. I stay right where I am in the corner of the room and watch from afar. She had really freaked me out, and I'm afraid that there is more wrong with her than just her superstitions that she's a witch. But after all that just happened, I think it's safe to say that we should all stay away from any witch business for good. There's a very real dark side to it that I knew in my gut existed, but never actually believed could happen in real life.

Elena and Caroline remain in the doorway of the bathroom.

"What happened?" Elena asks Bonnie worriedly. "Are you okay?"

It takes a moment for Bonnie to respond. She slowly lifts her head out of her hands and looks up. "I'm fine," she says calmly.

What a liar. First she lies about throwing away the necklace, and now she claims she's "fine" after freaking us all out by locking herself in the bathroom. Something is seriously wrong with her. I knew she should have dropped the whole "I'm a witch" thing a long time ago.

Caroline shakes her head. "Unbelievable. You were totally faking it."

"Caroline, come on," Elena chastises.

Ignoring Elena, Caroline angrily yells at Bonnie, "You know, you scared the hell out of me!" She turns around on her heel and with her arms crossed over her chest, Caroline leaves Elena and Bonnie alone to pout on Elena's bed.

I go over and sit beside Caroline on the bed. "Well, that was crazy," I remark to make conversation.

"Tell me about it," says Caroline. "She really freaked me out!"

"Yeah, me too," I say with a lighthearted laugh.

Suddenly, Bonnie walks out of the bathroom, gaining me and Caroline's attentions. She walks right past us and out of Elena's bedroom. Elena follows her, so Caroline and I get up to do the same.

"I can't believe I fell for it," Caroline complains, referring to Bonnie's supposedly "fake" outburst.

Disregarding what Caroline had said, Elena asks Bonnie suspiciously. "Are you okay?"

"I must go," Bonnie answers simply, dodging Elena's question.

The four of us stop at the top of the stairs.

"If she's leaving, I'm leaving," Caroline announces.

"You guys can't leave," Elena says.

I wonder what time it is because I know my mom is supposed to pick me up at around 8:45, but I doubt I've been here that long yet.

"Oh I can," Caroline retorts. "I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night."

"Thank you for having me," Bonnie speaks up suddenly. "I'll take it from here." She then turns to head down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Elena questions skeptically.

"Yeah," I say, growing very suspicious of Bonnie's behavior myself. "I thought you were staying to sleep over?"

Bonnie doesn't even bother to look back at us. "I'm going back to where it all began," she says, continuing her way down the stairs.

"Bonnie!" Elena calls after her. "Bonnie! Oh my God," she hesitates, "Emily!"

I whip my head towards Elena. "Why did you just call her the name of her dead ancestor?" I question in confusion.

Bonnie stops at the bottom of the stairs and gazes up at us. "I won't let him have it," she says. "It must be destroyed."

Who is him? What is she talking about?

Elena races down the stairs to catch up with Bonnie. "Wait!" she calls after her. I'm hot on Elena's heels, wanting desperately to figure this all out.

Bonnie rushes out the front door and shuts it behind her. I wait for Elena to get it open and go after her, but she struggles to get it open.

"Open the door," I demand impatiently.

"It won't budge," Elena says.

Oh great, another door we can't open.

I hear Caroline's footsteps coming down the stairs. She comes up behind us. "What's happening?" she asks with concern.

Elena continues to pull hard at the door nob. "I don't know. The door, it's not—"

Suddenly, the front door opens wide, revealing the outline of someone who is not Bonnie.

The three of us scream in unison.

"What the hell?" says the aggravated voice of Jeremy Gilbert.

Seeing that it's just my "little" cousin, I calm down.

Without a word and with an annoyed look in his eyes, Jeremy brushes past us and into the kitchen.

Caroline breathes heavily in and out, appearing to be having trouble calming down. She shakes her head to herself insufferably. "I'm outta here," she gives up and walks right out the front door without saying goodbye.

That just leaves me and Elena. My older cousin is running her hands through her hair, clearly contemplating what to do next.

I figure there's no better time to break the ice than right now. "Okay," I say firmly. "What was all that about? Do you know what's going on with Bonnie?" I inquire to her seriously.

Elena raises a hand at me and shakes her head. "Not now," she says like there's something more important on her mind. She reaches toward a decorative side table and picks up her phone. "I need to make a call," she tells me before heading into the living room for privacy.

After everything that just happened, and she needs to make a phone call?

I know it's wrong, but I can't help myself. I stand close to the opening of the living room and listen in on Elena.

"It's Bonnie," Elena says into the phone, her breath shuddering.

Who is she talking to?

"Emily is possessing her," Elena continues. "She said something. She said 'I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed.' And then she just left." Elena takes in a hefty breath. "I don't know . . ." She pauses. "Fell's Church, by the old cemetery, that's where she took Bonnie in her dreams. We have to help her, Stefan."

Stefan. Elena is talking to Stefan.

A moment later, I hear Elena press the hang-up button. I discreetly go back to where I was before, between the base of the stairs and the front door. I hope Elena didn't find out I was eavesdropping on her conversation with Stefan. But based on what was said, she's the one who should be explaining things to me, not the other way around.

Elena walks up to me with a jacket in hand. "I need to go somewhere. I'll be back," she informs.

I'm extremely suspicious of her now, so I decide to play dumb. "Where are you going?" I ask.

"I'll explain things later," she says in a rush. "I just have to go." Without wasting another second, Elena opens the front door and leaves.

And then there was one . . . now what?

For some reason, the first thing that comes to my mind are Elena and Jeremy's old bikes in the garage, like I want to follow her or something. Which isn't completely untrue, the urge to follow Elena is getting stronger by the second.

I think back to everything that happened today, and even these last few days. Bonnie's secret reason for wanting to keep Damon's necklace, and Caroline's obsession to get it back from her. Bonnie's serious insistence that she is a witch, and this dead ancestor of hers named Emily who I'm now supposed to believe is possessing Bonnie, according to Elena. Bonnie's freaky behavior during our séance, and the even more disturbing dark figure in the hallway, along with the flickering lights and mysterious wind.

Something is going on with Bonnie and Elena. I can't just ignore it or make up excuses anymore. Heck, even Stefan is apparently involved. This feels like those moments in the movies, where the protagonist suspects that something is up and has to choose whether to do anything about it or not.

But I'm not a protagonist in a movie, as much as I would like to be. This could all just be one big misunderstanding, which it probably is since cool stuff doesn't actually happen in real life. Still though, I know what I saw, and I know what I heard. I can't think of any rational explanations for any of it—not what happened during the séance, not Bonnie's behavior, not Elena's phone call with Stefan . . . any of it.

That's it. I can't just ignore the feeling in my gut any longer. If this all turns out to be one big misunderstanding, then whatever, but at least I'll know the answers to the secrets that everyone appears to be keeping from me.

I take my phone out of my pocket and check the time.7:45. I have about an hour before my mother is supposed to come pick me up. Let's just hope that today she doesn't come early.

I make my way into the Gilbert's garage and find Elena's old bike.

Fell's Church, that's where Elena said she was going over the phone.

I'm calling it now. I'm so gonna regret this decision.

------------

a/n:

Just to let you guys know, Cacio e Pepe puffs are so good. I highly recommend them! Here's picture:

Anyway, Harper finds out about vampires in the next chapter, guys. The moment you've all been waiting for is coming. And let's just say, her whole life is about to get turned upside down.

-- roxy

( word count: 5.5k )